Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has issued a stay in the proceedings involving three of four defendants in one of Knoxville's most horrific criminal cases. The move comes after the state Attorney General's Office filed an appeal of Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood's refusal to step down from the cases. According to the News Sentinel, the court gave the attorneys for the defendants until Monday to respond to the state’s appeal. The state is seeking to remove Blackwood from the case.

The state comptroller issued results of his agency's investigative audit of the Shelby County Election Commission yesterday, concluding that the commission "demonstrated an inability to conduct elections without significant inaccuracies..." However, the report found no “discernible evidence of intentional misconduct or other actions intended to affect or influence the election process or…outcomes.” The audit criticizes the local election commission for not exercising enough oversight and criticizes the administrator of elections and the county commission for failing to approve new district lines before early voting. Read key findings in the Commercial Appeal

Women who work for Tennessee’s largest private employer filed a court case Tuesday claiming pay discrimination. The federal lawsuit against Wal-Mart follows an unsuccessful case that involved women coast-to-coast. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a nationwide class-action lawsuit last year in part because the women didn’t have enough in common to constitute a class. The Tennessee case is the first in an expected wave of smaller, regional suits, brought by civil rights attorneys with Nashville’s Barrett Johnston law firm. Nashville Public Radio has the story.

The Department of Justice is seeing more church-based investment fraud in the Nashville area, and a rise in financial schemes across the country generally. This year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee has made indictments totaling $60 million. According to U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin, many of these schemes involve a church-goer who uses his or her fellow members as sources to invest in a phony product or money-making opportunity. He reminds Tennesseans that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. An event today at the Vanderbilt Law School is designed to educate the public about investment fraud. Read more from WPLN

Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Ron Durby is stepping down from the bench because of a disability, according to a letter sent to Gov. Bill Haslam. However, Durby indicated that he hopes his replacement will be temporary and that he will be able to return quickly to his duties. According to the Times Free Press, Durby was not at the courthouse yesterday and did not respond to requests for comment. Chattanoogan.com has a list of possible replacements. The AOC reports that the Governor’s Office is accepting applications to appoint and commission a special judge for the position.

A free legal clinic will be held in Morristown on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. The event, sponsored by Hamblen Legal Link, will take place at 1125 W. First North St., Ste. A. For details contact Dale Darby by email or by phone at (423) 307-6198 See all events planned for Celebrate Pro Bono Month

An education and outreach program will be offered for seniors at noon Thursday in Gruetli-Laager. The event is sponsored by the Legal Aid Society of East Tennessee. For details, contact Charlie McDaniel at (423) 756-4013 x 1113 or cmcdaniel@laet.org. The program is one of more than 40 events planned across the state this month.

Join former football coach Bill Courtney for breakfast tomorrow beginning at 8 a.m. and stay for pro bono training. The training session, presented as part of Celebrate Pro Bono Month, will focus on handling debt collection, pro se divorce forms and employment issues at legal clinics. The Memphis Bar Association, Memphis Area Legal Services, Community Legal Center and University of Memphis School of Law host the event in the Ball Reading Room of the law school. Contact Linda Seely or Callie Caldwell for details.

Brad Staats, the Republican nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper in the 5th Congressional District election, is on the U.S. Secret Service's radar after making a Facebook post that some construed to be a threat to President Obama. Under a photo of a semi-automatic pistol on his Facebook page, the candidate explained his views on Second Amendment rights in part by saying, "Here is something that I usually have with me. Welcome to Tennessee Mr. Obama.” Staats says he was not threatening the president. The Tennessean has more

Three men who conspired to violate the Clean Air Act when they demolished, without taking precautions, a Chattanooga factory containing large amounts of asbestos, were sentenced Monday in federal court. U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier sentenced David Wood, James Mathis and Donald Fillers and the Watkins Street Project LLC for their roles in the conspiracy. They were sentenced between 18 and 48 months and required to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution. “These sentences send a strong message that criminal violations of environmental laws designed to protect human health from exposure to hazardous substances, such as asbestos, will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Killian. NewsChannel9 reports

State Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, was arrested today after a Rhea County grand jury indicted him on Monday, the Times Free Press reports. He is charged with assault in connection with an election-day incident on Aug. 2. Cobb is scheduled to appear for a Friday hearing in Circuit Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in a lawsuit over the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission's makeup. The plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 2010, challenging sections of the Iowa Constitution and state code. They argued that the system excludes Iowa voters from participation in the election of the elected attorney members of the state Judicial Nominating Commission; that it denies voters the right to equal participation in the selection of state Supreme Court justices; and that it denies voters the right to vote for the elected attorney members of the commission. The judicial commission is given the power to select the nominees for vacant positions on both the state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. The governor then chooses one of the commission's three nominees. Learn more from LegalNewsLine.com

Voters won’t have to show photo ID in Pennsylvania before casting a ballot in November, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson ruled today. He issued a narrow injunction on the deadline day he was given by the state Supreme Court, which will surely hear a second appeal in the nationally watched case before November, the Legal Intelligencer says. Poll workers are allowed to ask for photo ID from voters, but they must allow all qualified electors to cast a ballot regardless of whether or not the voters can show ID, Simpson ruled.

Former Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner wants a jury selected from East Tennessee for his Oct. 23 trial, the News Sentinel reports. But U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer warned that he would not delay the upcoming trial more than a week or so should a jury not be seated in Knoxville. Baumgartner's lawyers and assistant U.S. attorneys met Monday in Greer's Greeneville courtroom to hammer out details of the trial. Greer said he will summon 100 potential jurors in hopes of having a large enough pool to ferret out those prejudiced by the media coverage of both Baumgartner's misdeeds and the resulting chaos in the Knox County judicial system. Baumgartner's lawyers are asking Greer to require potential jurors to submit answers in advance of the trial to a detailed questionnaire that asks them, among other things, whether they've ever been involved in a divorce situation. Greer's response: "That's awfully personal."

The Jackson City Council voted unanimously today to approve the 2012 Justice Assistance Grant for Jackson and Madison County. Jackson Police Department Capt. Gerry Campbell said the city and county would split the federally funded grant, which is about $54,000. The county will use its half to enhance court security, while city police will put the funds toward tablet computers.

The Nashville Pro Bono Program, with lawyers from Walker, Tipps & Malone PLC, will provide advice and referral to people with low incomes at a Wednesday legal clinic at the Martha O'Bryan Center, 711 South 7th St., in Nashville. The event is 9 a.m. to noon. For more information contact Lucinda Smith at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands.

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed on Sept. 27 the Hamilton County Chancery Court and a 45-day suspension for Chattanooga attorney Fred T. Hanzelik. The discipline was originally imposed by a hearing panel of the Board of Professional Responsibility. Hanzelik was suspended for attempting to bill a client twice for the same legal service, failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client, failing to adequately communicate with a client, charging an unreasonable fee, and failing to respond to inquiries from the board. Download the BPR's release.